Improvement in spelling-boxes



getraut dimite.

A. PERLEY M, Jnrrnns, or ALLEGAN, MICHIGAN'.

Letters Patent N o. 98,773. dated January 11,1870.

Y IMPROVEMENT IN SPELLING-BOXES.

The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making part of the eamo.

y To all whom 'it may concern Be it known that I, A. PnnLEY M. JEFFERS, of Allegan, in the county of Allegan, and` State of Michigan, have invented a new and valuable Improvement in School-Apparatus; and 1 do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the construction and operation of the same, reference being had to t-h'e annexed drawings, making a part of this specification, and to the letters and figures of reference marked thereon;

Figure l' of the drawings is a front view of my invention. p l

Figure 2 is a horizontal section' of the saine.

My invention relates t0 means for arrestingand controlling the attention of .children of lfender years, andimparting knowledge to themby means ot objectlessons, and consists in the adaptation of exible slides to the opening of the spelling-box patented November 13, 1860, by 'David F. Dunham, No. 30,622, and now in part owned by me, or to any other similar school-apparatus.

The letter A of the drawings designates the case or box, having a rectangular opening, through -which the objects and letters depicted on the rollers Z Z are brought to the viewof the children. p

In order to arrange the object by the side of the l letters Whichform its name, several rollers are necessary.

These are arranged side by side, and the rectangular opening is of suicient length to exhibit a portion lof all the rollers, extending from one side of the box to theA other.

But to the mind of a very young child, au object lmust be presented singly, or the eectof the lesthe subject ot' the lesson.

I n my spelling-box, already alluded to, this was accomplished by means of plane slides, which were moved from side to side, at the will ot' the teacher, at one time disclosing the object, and then shutting this out from view,v to direct the attention of th'e children to the letters of its name.

Inthe use ot this spelling-box, it has been found, that although the attention of the children is readily kept from wandering to those port-ions of the rollers which are shut out from view, their minds cannot'be centred upon the object of the lesson, in consequence of thediversion created by the motion and varying length ot' the ends ot' the slides, as they project from each side of the box.

'Bythe use of the iexible slides D D, arranged to pass' around, outside of the box or within, in the manner shown, it is designed to overcome this diiiculty.

the ,same color with the face of the box.

The material is a matter of choice or convenience.v

Leather might be employed. y

The perpendicular slips of wood, secured] to stout strips of cloth, as shown in the drawings, will answer every purpose.

The attention of the children is not diverted from the object by any visible part of the mechanism `of the wonderful box, but is the more forcibly directed to the bright picture or letter, apparent through the opening, in the effort to. comprehend the mystery thereof'. t

My improvement is designed to be applied not only to spelling-boxes, but also to all similar apparatus for instructing children, whether adapted to geography, grammar, astronomy, or any other branch of knowle edge.

I do not claim a iiexbleslide, formed of wooden strips, leather, or of any particular construction; but

' That I claim as myinvention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

The flexible slides I) D, constructed and arrangedas described, as an improvement upon-the patent of David F. Dunham, dated November 13, 18l0.

In testimony that I claim the above, I `have herei unto subscribed my name, `in the presence of two witnesses.

A. PERLEY M. J EFFERS. Witnesses:

E. W. ANDERSON, CHARLES KENYON. 

